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Daily Record
Daily Record
Sport
Steven Mair

VAR controversy explained as 'offside' Kylian Mbappe France winner hogs attention after Nations League Final

24 hours is a long time in football.

And while in Scotland VAR is being hailed as the best thing since sliced bread after helping us see off Israel in the World Cup qualifier, Spanish fans will have been cursing the technology on Sunday night.

La Furia Roja took on world champions France in the Nations League Final at San Siro.

A largely uneventful game suddenly sprang to life in the 64th minute when Real Sociedad's Mikel Oyarzabal struck the opener only for a Karim Benzema worldie to level UEFA's new international showpiece clash.

But as Scottish Premiership clubs seem keen for its introduction in our domestic game, the video refs were mired in controversy towards the end of the match over in Italy.

Kylian Mbappe raced onto a France through ball with 10 minutes remaining and finished past Unai Simon.

The freeze-frame of when the pass was played looked like an open-and-shut case with the PSG attacker well clear of the last Spain defender.

But VAR refused to overturn the goal despite a lengthy check with English ref Anthony Taylor consulting his countrymen Stuart Attwell, Chris Kavanagh, Lee Betts and Dutchman Pol Van Boekel in Nyon.

It was ascertained that a slight touch from Spain defender Eric Garcia rendered Mbappe's initial position a moot point but few in their camp were convinced.

Neither was Sky pundit Jamie Redknapp after the match and the argument should run and run as the officiating system becomes embroiled in another controversy.

France become the second Nations League winners after Portugal's success in 2019.

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